


Hondo Kenobi

by StarWarsSyl



Series: Short Stories [13]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Attachment does not equal love in this fic, Baby cuddles, Found Family, Gen, Jedi Culture Respected, Jedi Youngling Clans, Pirate Shenanigans, The Council Teases Obi-Wan, warm feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 07:25:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12185574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarWarsSyl/pseuds/StarWarsSyl
Summary: It's not every day the pirate Hondo calls Obi-Wan in to give him a baby.That isn't the sum total of Obi-Wan's shocks for the day, however, given the name Ohnaka claims is the baby's. Which it can't be, of course.





	Hondo Kenobi

**Author's Note:**

> June 29, 2018 Update: New link in the notes after!

“Hondo, what have you gotten into this time?” Obi-Wan glanced around, on edge.

The pirate gave him a stunned look and huffed, “My dear friend, why do you injure me this way?”

“What is so important that you couldn’t just tell me over comms?” He didn’t  _ sense  _ danger... but then, he hadn’t the night he and Anakin ended up drugged and held for ransom by this same pirate band either.

“I have someone you have to meet. I am delighted you traveled so far to come to my aid.”

“I was in the vicinity of Florrum anyway and your message certainly made it sound urgent.” Obi-Wan wondered if he was going to regret  _ not  _ asking for backup.  _ What was I thinking, again?  _ “And you didn’t say you needed help. You said you  _ had  _ something for me.”

“So I do, so I do.” Hondo bent down to reach into the basket at his feet, and shoved— of  _ all things,  _ a  _ baby—  _ in Obi-Wan’s face.

The Jedi caught it out of the pirate’s arms, mildly worried the other man would  _ drop  _ it. “You support the head!” Obi-Wan barked.

“What?”

“You support the head when you pick up a baby! How old is it?” He couldn’t tell by looking at the tiny Weequay, being too unfamiliar with the species.

Hondo considered. “A year and a half, maybe? That sounds right. We’ll go with that.”

The little one hadn’t so much as stirred with the hand over and slept on.

“He is one of you. Take him.” Hondo glanced around to make sure none of his crew stood near enough to overhear, leaned forward, and whispered, “Make sure he’s in the best of hands.”

Obi-Wan stared in shock at first him, then the baby. “You mean to say he’s Force sensitive?”

“I mean I caught him staring at a floating credit chip yesterday! I said to myself: Hondo! Not only does this boy have good taste— and he clearly does— but he’s the same sort of thing as Kenobi! I  _ knew  _ I had to call. Wouldn’t want to fail my civic duty.”

 

* * *

 

The human raised an eyebrow at him in clear skepticism.

So,  _ fine,  _ maybe Hondo had stretched the truth a  _ little.  _ He’d known the Jedi would eventually sense the child and come find him, and the Jedi had legal authority to take children out of neglectful or abusive situations—

And the fact they hadn’t actually  _ named  _ Tiny Braid, and the fact that Hondo wasn’t entirely sure what he ate, and forgot he existed most of the time until he cried,  _ might  _ count in the Republic’s eyes as one or the other of those things.

“Where are his parents?” Kenobi asked, sounding just a little severe as he tested the child’s blood with some  _ doohickey  _ that Hondo wanted to pocket, but couldn’t because the Jedi was keeping too careful watch of it—

“The father died in a raid before it was born, and the mother died a few months after in a different raid. These are tough times, my friend.”

“Who’s been taking care of it for the last year-plus?” the Jedi demanded.

Hondo spread his hands and grinned. “All of us! It takes a village, no? We are very community minded here.”

“How can I be certain you did not  _ steal  _ this baby from parents that wanted him? I seem to remember you kidnapping  _ Jedi  _ younglings not that long ago, and threatening their lives to pry them from their bonded kyber crystals.”

“And maybe this will help ease you into forgetting that!” Hondo crowed. “For a man who does not hold grudges, you certainly remember things for a  _ very  _ long time—”

“He is Force sensitive,” Obi-Wan interrupted.

“Well, of  _ course he is.  _ I’ve never seen a  _ normal child  _ floating objects in the air, have you?” And while having a Force using member of his crew would be  _ very useful,  _ the likelihood of being able to  _ keep  _ him to adulthood looked slim.

_ We’d have to keep him from somehow being sensed, and when the Jedi _ did _ come looking, we’d have to hide him... _

Not to mention Hondo had better things to do than raise a  _ kid.  _ Wasn’t that the Jedi’s job?

The memory of a small, Tholothian face staring up at him with earnest belief and entreaty whispered into the back of his brain, but he shook that thought aside.

No, this was  _ simply  _ good business.

The fact that The Kid would be happier if he was raised with people like  _ her _ , than if he kept living here, was irrelevant. 

Besides. Having a member of his crew  _ inside  _ the Jedi Order could be extremely useful one day. Maybe there would be a favor that Kenobi was not available to do, but Runt would, since, after all, Hondo’s band were his people. A long-term safety net for once the war was over and the Jedi went back to hunting pirates and shutting down their meager trade.

And yes. A peace offering for that whole unfortunate crystal business.

 

* * *  
  


“I need to know more, Hondo. Can you verify the child’s parentage, and I  _ need  _ to speak to his current caretaker—”

But it appeared Hondo had used up his kindness credit for the day.

“ _ Verify?  _ What do I look like, a census taker?  _ I  _ am the current caretaker. The parents are dead, the child is not wanted, and you are free to leave now.”

“At least tell me his  _ name, _ ” Obi-Wan protested.

He was utterly unprepared for what came torpedoing out of Ohnaka’s mouth.

“Hondo Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan stared at him in disbelieving shock. “Is not.”

Hondo drew himself up with a deprecating glare in his eyes. “You asked what the child’s name was, Jedi; that is his name. Now go back to your big fancy-house in the Core and find just the right place for him.” Turning on his heel, he marched back into the ruins of his fortress.

Obi-Wan felt the creature in his arms move, and looking down, he caught sight of bright eyes peering up at him. A clumsy brush against his Force signature settled the deal as a Finder’s bond locked into place without either attempting for it.

Obi-Wan’s arms tightened around the child and he swept back to his fighter, every instinct telling him to get out of here  _ now  _ before Hondo decided to try to ransom them both back to the Republic.

So  _ this  _ was what it felt like to be a Finder.

Dear Force... it felt like he’d been given the world.

 

* * *

 

“Ohnaka  _ gave you  _ a baby.” The hologram of Mace Windu flickered as Obi-Wan sat in his council seat, still holding little Hondo.

“Yes.”

“He does realize that doesn’t mean we owe him anything?” Windu pressed. “He doesn’t think that once the war is over we’re going to let him keep on his merry way and just  _ look the other direction _ ?”

Obi-Wan recognized from the look on the Korun master’s face that he was seriously trying to determine if he could be spared from the front lines long enough to  _ clean up  _ that nest and be back in time for dinner—

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. “If we remove him now someone else will take his place, and at least we know where  _ Hondo  _ is, and he can be reasoned with. To a certain extent. And we might have lost Ahsoka on Onderon if it hadn’t been for his assistance.”

“Which we  _ paid  _ him for,” Mace grumbled.

Yoda looked amused. “The child’s name, what is?”

Obi-Wan’s face went blank, and he stared straight ahead. “I get the impression it was coined on the spot.”

“Not terribly unusual,” Shaak Ti pointed out, sending him an odd look. “What name came with the baby?”

Obi-Wan held his chin up, thanked the Force Anakin wasn’t here, and spoke  _ clearly  _ so he wouldn’t have to repeat it, “Hondo Kenobi.”

Genuine snickers broke out through the room, even Yoda’s eyes widening as he chuckled to himself.

“Is there something you want to  _ tell  _ us, Obi-Wan?” Mace asked, face stern and voice wry, his eyes demon bright with enjoyment.

In that moment Obi-Wan wasn’t quite sure he liked his friend. And he  _ definitely  _ didn’t like Hondo Ohnaka. “ _ Yes.  _ Human and Weequay biology are not compatible.”

That just seemed to add to the quiet merriment of the room.

“I find it amusing that you know this,” Plo Koon rumbled, and oh,  _ please,  _ not  _ him too—  _ “Did you look it up on the flight home?”

Obi-Wan felt his face heat up.  _ Yes.  _ “Not because I was worried. Just so I could prove scientifically that the name needs to be changed.”

“So, Obi-Wan,” Fisto asked with a sly grin, “when you reported that Hondo drugged you and Knight Skywalker during a party, you failed to specify what sort of drug you meant.”

_ Oh, just stop.  _ “Very amusing,” Obi-Wan grumbled. “Once we settle on a new name, I’ll find him a Clan.”

“New name?” Windu echoed. “I see no need for a new name. Does anyone else?”

Was it unJedi of him to feel  _ betrayed  _ that the vote turned out to be  _ unanimous  _ no?

_ Still  _ not finding it funny, Obi-Wan marched out of the room with as much dignity as he could muster, carrying the baby with him.

 

* * *

 

Obi-Wan walked through the nursery quarters, listening for the Force. There were several groups that had started this year.

None of them felt right.

Undaunted, he tried those that had begun forming last year.

Still... nothing.

He located those formed  _ two  _ years ago, not concerned quiet yet. After all, Hondo would be one of the younger members of one of these clans, but nothing insurmountable.

When he stood in the hallway staring in bafflement at the clans assembled  _ three  _ years ago, he felt a momentary urge to give up.

But that meant sending this little one  _ back  _ to Force knows  _ what.  _ And while little Hondo wasn’t sick, he wasn’t particularly  _ well,  _ either, according to his first checkup.

No. This child was  _ not  _ going back.

Obi-Wan considered, tried to guess if he might be older than he appeared. That was possible. Maybe the Force  _ was  _ leading them to an older clan.

Obi-Wan winced. He remembered what it was like to have children added after the initial set had been cast. The Vos cousins had been... interesting.

_ Then again, that may have had nothing to do with when they were introduced to the clan and everything to do with their personalities. _

Yes.

Entirely possible.

He found very solid clans with dedicated clan mothers in the three-year sets,  _ good people  _ who would care well for this child—

_ But not the one. _

He could feel it in his soul. The unsettled feeling he received every time he thought about setting Hondo down.

He stood staring at the rooms belong to older clans and felt at a loss.

_ What are you telling me?  _ he asked the Force.  _ Am I missing something? _

Maybe this was because he’d never done this before. Maybe the  _ go ahead  _ was more subtle than he’d been expecting. Yes, when Plo Koon talked about placing Ahsoka with Clawmouse, it certainly hadn’t  _ sounded  _ subtle, but maybe the clarity wasn’t quite that much for each child.

Maybe the Force didn’t choose  _ each  _ baby’s family.

Maybe—

Something tingling across his shoulder blades made Obi-Wan turn around.

He found a young woman shepherding a flock of eight younglings down the hall.

_ Eight?  _ He couldn’t imagine trying to watch over such a number. 

They looked to be ranging across the ages of four- to six-years-old; at least, for the species he was familiar with how they aged.

The woman paused, almond eyes widening as she clearly  _ felt  _ something. She paused, looking around until her gaze found Obi-Wan.

_ Is this what it feels like? _

She strode in his direction and he waited, watching the children follow like little avians behind her, their quiet chatter silencing as they seemed to realize something was happening.

“I am Asidinochi Noko, of Clan Xandu,” she introduced, extending her hand to grip Obi-Wan’s. He freed one for the purpose and appreciated her solid grip.

“I am glad to meet you— Knight?— Noko.”

“Knight,” she confirmed. “Who is this?”

Obi-Wan pulled the blanket back a bit to show the once-again-sleeping face. “Hondo Kenobi.”

Her dark gaze snapped up to his face again. “But  _ you’re _ —”

“It’s an unfortunate coincidence that is currently beyond my power to repair.”

“You bonded with him,” Asidinochi observed.

Obi-Wan gave a nod. “And you have a very full quiver.”

“It’s not been usual, or so I’m told.” Amused, the short woman glanced back at her charges. “We manage alright, don’t we?”

A Nautolan stepped forward, her eyes sober. “I help. Master, is this another Xandu?”

“I think he might be. What do you think, Master Kenobi?”

He felt a strange urge to hand the baby to her. It hummed in his blood and mind, a quiet peace and  _ rightness  _ that he would have to be Force deaf to not hear.

“Nine total?” he protested, however, on principle. What was she? In her twenties? This had to be her  _ first clan,  _ and there were  _ so many of them— _

Asidinochi met his concern with a calm nod. “Where the Force leads, the Force will provide.”

“He’s much younger than the others,” Obi-Wan pointed out, still convinced he needed to feel doubtful about this.

_ None of it makes sense to me. _

The Whiphid, almost as tall as his clan mother already, stepped forward. He reached out a clawed hand to touch the blanket wrapping the new initiate. “He belongs,” he asserted. “Can’t you feel it?”

Little heads were nodding.

“He’ll be slower than you,” Asidinochi cautioned. “We’ll have to be gentle with him, and sometimes play games that someone his age would like.”

Her younglings listened with grave expressions, then nodded again, the timing a bit staggered as each came to the decision on their own.

Asidinochi turned back to Obi-Wan, giving him a questioning look.

The Force nudged him one last time.

“My mind says this shouldn’t feel as right as it does,” he murmured as he placed the baby in her arms.

But the ache that had made him dread the thought of letting the little one go faded.  _ What a marvelous defense mechanism. _

Something to keep the Force’s children safe in the vast universe.

Asidinochi’s face lit up with a glow as she smiled down into the face of her newest clan member. She barely spared Obi-Wan a glance, though she  _ did  _ ask, “You’ll be by to visit?”

“Certainly.” He wouldn’t be able to keep away.

Before he realized he was going to do it, he found himself counting years between now and when the little one would be of apprenticeship age...

He hadn’t felt that urge since Anakin left the nest.

He’d been quite content to stand by as partial adviser for Anakin with Ahsoka, but certainly didn’t want another Padawan himself.

_ Or... _

_Or maybe it’s about finding the right one._

They’d have to see in a decade or so just how the lay of the land went.

_ Maybe the war will be over by then. _

_Is it possible Ohnaka had this in mind? That since he thought the little one would grow into a Jedi with a soft spot for pirates, if he gave him my name, I might be more inclined to train him, and since he seems to think we’re on good terms, that might reinforce that favoritism?_

In the end, Obi-Wan decided it didn’t matter if Hondo’s intentions had been selfish, selfless, or some uniquely Hondo blend of the two.

_ What counts is that the Force is singing with the truth that you, little one, are where you belong. _

_You’ve found the family you were meant to have._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> There is now an image of Asidinochi [Here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13056954/chapters/29864580)
> 
> Hondo's story is continued! [Lostlings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15092432)


End file.
